Weekly Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr Roundup.
I am so very sorry to tell you that yesterday afternoon, our sweet Anne passed away. She had a decent morning and ate well, but then she crashed hard. She was in such rough shape when we got her that her little body could no longer hold out. In her too-short time with us, she made cuddle buddies with the other kittens, and when she left us, she was safe and warm and loved. ❤️
Good night innernets. (Constance and Rochefort.)
Cutey and Clyde are off for their spay/neuter surgeries this morning, but first Clyde’s tail needs a chomp or two. That Cutey, she’s a giver.
You might be surprised to hear that d’Artagnan has an opinion and isn’t afraid to share it.
I’m not sure what I love more – Porthos all “How YOU doin’?” or Constance mid-meow.
Yes indeed, Winter is a gorgeously floofy girl.
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Rochefort gets a BOOP and we are very warm and sleepy. (This video is from yesterday; the loud noise outside the door was the guy working on our air conditioner. We’re in Alabama and with the heat index it’s been 100+ every day, so working air conditioning is pretty important. It’s working now!)
Cutey and Clyde came through their surgeries just fine and are back at Love & Hisses Headquarters wondering what on earth happened to them. I think there’s a nap in their future.
Alexandra always seems a little surprised to find herself buried in kittens. ❤️
Good night innernets. (Planchet. Yes, he’s new. You’ll officially meet him tomorrow. BE PATIENT.)
Little cat in a big Croc. I think pink suits Winter.
Brittany sent me this picture over the weekend. That’s Bunny, nearly snuggling with everyone’s favorite Uncle, Blake. (As Teresa said, Blake could make a lover out of any cat. Everyone loves him!) I saw Bunny yesterday at Michelle’s, and as long as the dogs didn’t try to get too close to her and the other cats kept a decent distance, she was fine. She got a little wound up as the afternoon went on – spay/neuter day is a pretty active day – so I think our girl needs a quiet home with respectful animals.
Please give a warm welcome to Planchet, the newest Mewsketeer. He was rescued near the river, screaming his little head off, in a location that indicates he was dumped there. His rescuers got him just in the nick of time – a few minutes later they spotted two coyotes headed toward the spot where Planchet had just been! He’s a lucky little guy. He’s about 8 weeks old, so bigger than his new siblings. He spent his first two days growling at the other kittens while also trying to play with them. The growling is fading away, and it won’t be long before they’re best friends, I think. He is EXTREMELY sweet and snuggly, and you barely touch him before he’s purring like crazy.
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New add-in Planchet gets a gander at his new family (and he isn’t sure what he thinks.)
As promised, my review of the Fruitasan knockoff I ordered. On the upper left of the picture, the Fruitasan I have. On the right, the picture that showed up in the Facebook ad. On the bottom: What I received – a piece of fabric with hooks on all four corners – the declaration on the envelope claimed it was a “hammock”, I assume like one that hangs under a chair. I’m at least the third person I know who ordered the Fruitasan knockoff and received a “hammock.” I immediately contacted PayPal to ask for a full refund, and had the full refund in about 9 hours. So, in short: this is a scam. If you got suckered in, go straight to PayPal to request a refund; don’t even bother to contact the sellers. And I guess we should all be wary of those Facebook ads that seem too good to be true! (Thanks for Carol and Tessa for letting me know what your experience was.)
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Play time in the foster room. ❤️
Whiskers in the sun.
Little slackers Clyde and Cutey, slacking. They do it in STYLE.
Good night innernets. (Aramis)
His name is Athos, but Champagne Mango would be a fitting name for him, too.
Look who it is! That’s Katia, who was one of our foster mamas in the spring of 2018. She came to us along with her own mother, Kristi. They were both pregnant, and although Kristi seemed much bigger, Katia surprised us by having her kittens first (4 of them – Torville and Oksana, and Dean(zilla) and Katarina. You can see Katarina and Dean over at @katarinandean !) Then she acted as doula when Kristi had her (6!) kittens. She was the sweetest, even though she was feral and I was too scared to pet her (the couple of times I tried, she smacked me, though she didn’t use her claws.) She’s currently at Michelle’s house, and as long as she has other kitties to hang out with, she’s a happy girl. And look how PRETTY.
Hooray hooray, Clyde and Cutey have been adopted and went home today! Clyde will remain Clyde – Cutey is going to be Jasmine (Jazzy), which I think fits her well! We’ve been promised updates! Happy life, sweet babies.
“Hello, hi, hi, hi innernets, hi! It’s me, d’Artagnan and I would like to apply to be Da BAYbee, please. I is very very cute, as you can see, I gets very excited when I see the peoples come into the room, and not just because there’s food, I is quite talky, and did I mention cute? I haven’t yet learned to answer the “Are YOU Da BAYbee?” question yet, but I am workin’ on it and I’ll get it figured out one of these days. Consider my application, please and thank you.”
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This video is from the day I brought Planchet home. You can hear him growling. Athos and Porthos were curious and I think wanted to be friends, but Planchet was having none of it. (He’s since changed his tune; I’m working on getting video of him playing with the other kittens!)
Aramis is all “Dude, does my foot look weird to you?” and d’Artagnan is all “No, I think it’s supposed to look like that.”
Good night innernets. (Constance)
Cutey and Clyde – who went home yesterday, yay! – at 5 weeks old and at 12 weeks old. It’s amazing how much they grew in 7 short weeks, isn’t it?
Throw Back Thursday: two years ago we had a cobbled-together litter of kittens we named after towns of Maine and called (amazingly enough) the Mainers. They were my first experience with ringworm, and I overreacted and bathed all 9 of them every other day for what felt like 6 years. Since July in Alabama is known for being pleasantly dry and cool (NOT), it was a delight. One thing I got out of that experience was learning how to bathe a large number of kittens in the shortest amount of time possible, and the other was this truly delightful picture of the kitten we named Kennebunk and nearly immediately nicknamed Moop because if that face isn’t the Moopiest face ever, I don’t know what is.
We have an update on Jasmine (formerly Cutey) and Clyde! Jodi reports that the kittens saw the dogs (from a distance) and weren’t thrilled, but also weren’t too horrified. The dogs (who grew up with cats) are excited. Introductions will be taken very slowly; right now everyone’s isolated. The kittens made themselves right at home right away (I’m not surprised!) and our girl gave her new Dad kisses, and then showed off her tail-chasing skills. So cute! (Thanks, Jodi!)
Back in 2008 we had our very first pregnant cat – that was Kara, who became a permanent resident. One of the four kittens she had was Inara, who was adopted and named Dora (I think I made a joke to Katherine about how she should name her Dora because she was such a little explorer, and it stuck). This is what Inara/Dora looks like these days, at the age of 12. She’s a very helpful girl who MIGHT look like she’s trying to steal that yoga mat, but in actuality she’s participating in Katherine’s zoom yoga class by hogging one of the blankets while holding down the mat. Dora is a GIVER (and also beautiful.) (Thanks, Katherine!)
Athos is all “It ain’t Toesday, but get a load of these beans.”
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Planchet wants to PLAY. At first I held my breath every time he bounced at Rochefort and Constance because they’re half his weight and I was afraid he might hurt them, but he never actually makes contact and is actually pretty gentle with them.
A year ago we had a bunch of 3 month old kittens AND a bunch of newborn kittens, along with two mothers (we knew them as Margeaux and Katriane – they’re now Elfie and Neko at @keepingtabbies) and while we eventually had to move the little kittens and their mama into another room due to my worries that the big kittens would play too roughly with the little ones, these are some of my favorite pictures from that time. Big kittens and little kittens snuggling together. Awwww.
Good night innernets. (Rochefort.)
Breakfast time! (Winter and Aramis were still sleeping.) Clockwise from the top, we have: Rochefort, Athos, Porthos, Planchet, d’Artagnan and Constance
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Alexandra was exploring last weekend and was utterly fascinated by this garland hanging over the desk. I thought for sure she was going to try to yank it down, but she was very gentle and left it alone after this.
If you missed it in the blog, Alexandra stopped eating a few days after I brought she and the kittens home. I was force-feeding her several times a day and supplementing with a high-calorie supplement, but she was losing weight (and she was pretty thin to begin with.) She had an upper respiratory issue going on (which explains the not eating, since cats who can’t smell anything won’t eat; she was on medication) and when I took Cutey and Clyde for their spay/neuter on Monday, I took Alexandra along and ended up leaving her with Michelle. It took a couple of days, but Michelle told me yesterday that Alexandra is eating fine now. Michelle (who has the equipment to do so) will continue to nebulize her to help with the upper respiratory stuff until she’s certain she’s okay, and then Alexandra will come back here.
Honestly, the kittens don’t even seem to notice she’s not here. I’m sure, in their own way, they miss her, but they’re certainly not acting any differently.
Aramis (here in my lap with Constance) is one of those kittens you glance at and think “Oh yeah, brown tabby. Cute.” and then one day you LOOK at him and you think “Oh holy cow, you are GORGEOUS.” I don’t know that I’m ever going to get a picture to adequately convey just how good-looking this little goober is, but I’m going to keep trying!
Athos and d’Artagnan in one litter box, wrestling, Porthos in another litter box peeing, and Rochefort balancing on a litter scoop. As you do. They’re keeping it interesting in the kitten room. (Yes, I need to sweep.)
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I love it when one of them (in this case, Aramis) gets in the giant Croc and sticks his paws through to slap at the other kittens.
Yes indeed, Da BAYbee needs a kiss. (d’Artagnan)
Good night innernets. (Athos)
Mama’s home! She got home yesterday evening – I walked into the room and let her out of the carrier, expecting the kittens to come running over, howling at the top of their lungs. Instead, they were like “Oh hi, Mom.” Then Alexandra flopped down on the floor and a flood of kittens covered her, while Planchet watched and clearly thought “What’s going on there?” Alexandra has put on some much-needed weight, is much brighter-eyed and curious than she was before she went to Michelle’s. And she had plenty of milk, which made for happy kittens. It’s good to have her back with us! ❤️
Jazzy (formerly Cutey) and Clyde, completely tuckered out after their first full day home. They briefly saw the dogs again (the dogs were polite, Clyde growled, and then everyone was quiet.) The blanket they’re on was one their Mom was going to give away, but they decided they like it – so it stays! When kittens claim a blanket, you gotta listen to them. Look how very content they are! (Thanks, Jodi!)
I’m not sure whether d’Artagnan is trying to push Aramis over the side, or stop him from falling. Either way, Athos is like “I’m not getting involved.”
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Rochefort and Aramis, playing. (Well, Rochefort is playing. Aramis is mostly minding his own business while Rochefort watches. When he comes waddling across the floor after Aramis, I am dead.)
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Rochefort totally wants to be one of the big boys!
Winter’s pushing Athos up onto the couch, all “Go see if the milk bar is open!
Good night innernets. (Aramis)
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Previously
2019: DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, MARGEAUX.
2018: She cracks me up – she’s like a puppy in kitten clothing.
2017: More about Belle and her beasts.
2016: Here’s the story of Hemlock.
2015: No entry.
2014: “And she put this HARNESS thing on me, and then she threw me in a CARRIER, and I was in there FOREVERRRRR…”
2013: “WHAT DOON, LADY?”
2012: “Go ‘way, lady. We’re wallowing.”
2011: Random foster pics.
2010: Meet Martin’s new “sisters.”
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: “I am former Senator Stanley J. Boogerton, and I approve this bed.”
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
I love that picture of upside-down Athos with his round little tummy!